Climate Support for Bangladesh
Rushanara for UK's role in fund release
Visiting British parliamentarian Rushanara Ali calls on Leader of the Opposition in Parliament and BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia at the latter's Gulshan office in the city yesterday. Photo: BNP
The UK should pursue the international community at Durban climate summit in December for enhanced support to Bangladesh for the vulnerable nation's climate change adaptation, a visiting British MP said yesterday. Rushanara Ali, the first British Member of Parliament of Bangladeshi origin, was speaking at a climate dialogue on "Expectations from Durban: UK and Bangladesh Perspectives". The Campaign for Sustainable Rural Livelihoods (CSRL) and Oxfam jointly organised it in Cirdap auditorium of the city yesterday. Ali said, "I, as an opposition MP and also personally, will push the British government for an active engagement with the international community to materialise the pledges for climate change compensation for Bangladesh". She along with her Labour Party would put a pressure on the government for a leading role in releasing the climate fund committed by the developed world for the developing nations, she said. Dr Hasan Mahmud, state minister for environment and forests, said Bangladesh is the most vulnerable country to climate change in respect of sea-level rise, salinity intrusion, glacier melt, and desertification in the northern region. The number of Bangladesh's coastal population exposed to climate change vulnerability is higher than that of any small island countries, he said. Dr Hasan said the government has so far disbursed Tk 698 crore from Climate Trust Fund in favour of the government projects. No money was disbursed for NGO projects, as the trustee board halted it for scrutiny, saying 4000 projects submitted by NGOs are "invisible", he added. Dr Ahsan Uddin Ahmed, member, CSRL steering committee, said Bangladesh, as a climate vulnerable country, will lose international sympathy if the climate fund is not utilised justifiably in a transparent manner. Hasanul Huq Inu, chairman, all party parliamentary committee on agriculture, among others, spoke at the dialogue presided over by Dr CS Karim, convener of the CSRL and a former adviser to a caretaker government.
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